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National Teaching Awards
18 July 2009
We all associate universities with learning and teaching and this is what matters most to the undergraduate students on every campus across the country. Their experience is dominated by the relationships with lecturers, tutors, support staff and support services.
Over the last two decades, however, the reputation of universities in Australia has drifted towards excellence in the research profile rather than excellence in teaching. There is some logic to this, however, the average student is more interested in the quality of teaching they are receiving, than the research activities of individual university staff. Institutions, of course, aspire to excellence in both teaching and research. And in the case of USC, engagement with the region has equal status with these two traditional facets of academic life.
While teaching excellence has been recognized within the sector for decades, a quite remarkable transformation occurred in 2006 with the establishment of the Carrick Institute, now renamed as the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC). This new, commonwealth-funded agency, and its leadership, has made a huge impact on the status of teaching in higher education and is moving forward to put it on an equal footing with research, as a major plank of the Australian approach to higher education.
One of the ALTC programs is the Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning. Individuals applying for these prestigious awards need to demonstrate that the teaching style, approaches taken, the relationship with students, and the interventions introduced actually result in positive learning outcomes for students. The assessment process extends far deeper than just establishing that students think somebody is a good teacher. In many respects, it’s a very “research-based” approach to analyzing the success of teaching and the educational environment as a whole.
So, gaining recognition as an ALTC Citation recipient is certainly not easy. The ALTC grants about 200 awards per year across the country’s universities and other degree granting institutions. Over the first three years of this scheme, USC staff received five Citations. This in itself is a wonderful achievement. This year, however, six staff/teams have gained this national recognition.
For me, one of the very pleasing aspects of this year’s result is, that for the first time, there is a spread of success between the traditional lecture theatre environment and the non-academic cost centres that add so much to the educational experience of students. This is something USC values and fosters. It shows up in national surveys that track student satisfaction with their educational experiences. USC is consistently in the top quartile of all universities with regard to both quality of teaching and support services. The ALTC affirmation achieved this year is therefore very satisfying. Our region can be justly proud of these university staff and their status within the Australian higher education sector. Most importantly, the community and current and potential students can be confident that the quality of education available at USC is first class.
Professor Greg Hill is Acting Vice-Chancellor and President at the University of the Sunshine Coast.